


Coming into the Light

by Shade_Targaryen



Series: Descending into Goodness [3]
Category: Descendants (Disney Movies)
Genre: F/M, tags will be added later
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-08-26
Updated: 2020-09-06
Packaged: 2020-09-27 00:49:15
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 2,748
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20398939
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Shade_Targaryen/pseuds/Shade_Targaryen
Summary: Hey y'all im /alive/





	1. Back to the Isle

Darion stared down at the courtyard, where the other four VKs were leading the school in a flash mob, fueled by the potion-apples that he’d helped them brew. From his angle, he could just see that the statue of the beast had been hit with spray paint, a combination of his bright red and Mal’s darker purple. Ever since the incident at Coronation, the four of them had gotten closer, if marginally. It had helped him feel slightly less isolated in the school, having four others that understood. He still wasn’t going to join into any songs though.  
  
After the people had dispersed, the after affects of the apples made sure that none of them would remember the event. Mal’s form shimmered, her now-blond hair bundling itself up to her nape, her normal getup shifting into a more feminine pale-white dress. The press swarmed her as she stood in front of Beast’s statue. She blinked, the flash from the camera’s blinding her slightly. She began to look more and more overwhelmed by the questions being slung at her from very angle. Darion sighed and palmed a card, about to cast a mild confusion spell to give Mal a little reprieve from the idiots down there. Thankfully, Ben swanned in, deflecting the questions masterfully and pulling Mal away, into the school. He sighed and turned away from the window. Mal was going to lose it. She hated, and he meant hated being in the public light. She may have lead on the Isle, but it was without so many expectations shoved other her shoulders.  
Snagging his bag, he pushed his way out of the door, heading down the class number one of the day, History.  
  
At his locker, just a couple down from Mal’s, he watched subtly as Ben and Mal were engaged in a pretty serious conversation. Mal seemed about to say something, when Doug, with terrible timing, tapped Ben on the shoulder, drawing him into a conversation about Coalition or Tourney or something. A hurt look flashed across Mal’s face for merely a second, before she shut her locker, walking away quickly. With a muttered curse, Darlin shut his locker as well, speeding up to catch up to Mal. This is what having tentative ‘friends’ got him, he supposed.  
  
As the days quickly passed, Darion found himself hanging out more and more with Mal. Ben, Carlos and Jay were all busy with Tourney, and Coalition on Ben’s part. Evie was starting to branch out, hanging out with Doug more and more. Thus, he was the only one around to offer some form of comfort to Mal as she slowly collapsed under the pressures of being Ben’s girlfriend.  
One day, he pulled her aside, “Mal. Go talk to Ben about this. You can’t go on like this Mali.”  
  
Mal shook her head, “No, no. Ben’s busy. Besides, I’m fine! Don’t worry about me, Darion.” Mal pasted a bright smile on her face. The dark circles under her eyes contested the statement.  
  
“Mal, you’re not okay. Ben should be supporting you, where is he?” Darion narrowed his eyes, examining Mal’s slightly slumped posture.  
  
“No! I don’t want to bother Ben, alright? I said I’m fine, so I am!” Mal stomped away, clutching her books. Darion stared after her, frowning. Something was going to happen, and he’d bet good money he’d have a front row seat to the explosion.  
  
Unfortunately, Darion was wrong. Instead of a massive explosion of temper, Mal slipped away overnight, leaving a note on her bed. Evie had run into his room in a panic, waving the slip of red paper.  
  
“Darion! What do we do! Mal left, she’s gone back to the Isle!” Mal paced rapidly in the room, the three boys watching on.  
  
“Evie, calm down. You’re certain she’s gone back?” Darion stood, intercepting her path.  
  
“Yeah, yeah I am. Its the only place she’d go to feel like herself again.” Evie stopped, taking a few deep breaths. “I’m going to tell Ben, he has to fix this.” She spun, marching determinedly out the door.  
  
“Oh boy.” Darion sighed, the door closing behind her. He sat back down on his bed, joining Jay and Carlos. Carlos curled up against the headboard. “Why would she leave us here? We’re supposed to be together.”  
  
Darion scooted up next to him, placing an arm around the boy’s shoulders, “She probably wasn’t thinking straight. She wanted to get away from here, and that’s all she thought.”  
  
Jay joined them in the cuddle group, “Yeah, don’t worry Carlos. We’ll get her back.”  
  
“Even if it means heading back there?” Carlos murmured, tucking his legs into his chest.  
  
“We won’t get stuck there. Never again.” Jay said back, “I’ll make sure of it.”  
  
A knock sounded at the door, and Evie pushed her way in, dragging Ben behind her. “Get him dressed for the Isle. We’re getting Mal.”  
  
Darion grinned, “Finally. Did you yell at him a bit at least?”  
  
Evie snickered, “Of course.” Darion grinned at that, pulling Ben over to his closet. Digging through the racks, he yanked out a not too ripped shirt in black, a red leather jacket to go over it, with sleeves this time, a pair of tight-ish black leather pants and a spare pair of combat boots in red.  
  
“Here. Bathroom is there, change and shout for me if something doesn’t fit.” Darion settled on a chair, watching Evie’s pacing.  
  
Once the door had shut, Evie leapt in to planning mode. “How the hell are we gonna get to the island? Its not like we can just waltz into the garage and nick the limo! And we’re not very popular there, well except for you, Darion, but anyways. How do we even get to her without getting mobbed?”  
  
Darion chuckled, “Calm down, Evie. Ben’s the soon-to-be king, remember? He could ask for pretty much anything, and he’d probably get it. If that doesn’t work, we have bikes, remember? I’ll just enchant them to fly or something. Take a deep breath and chill.”  
  
Ben opened the bathroom door, hesitantly stepping out. “So? How do I look?”  
  
Decked in red and black as he was, he could almost pass as Darion’s brother. If not for the shock of blond hair, Darion mused.  
  
“Do you have some sort of hat or something? We need to cover that hair.” Evie picked up a lock of the dirty blond hair. It would stand out like a sore thumb on the dirt and grime of the Isle.  
  
“Uhh, nope, but I do have this!” Darion strode over to the dresser, sliding a vial full of color-shifting liquid out of a leather bag.  
  
Ben eyed the vial shiftily “What the heck is that?”  
  
“Hair dye. C’mon Benny Boo, you’re getting whatever this turns out to be.” Snagging Ben’s wrist, Darion tugged him into the bathroom, parking him in front of the sink. Mixing the dye with some warm-ish water, he shook the vial. After a moment, the color settled, turning a deep black, with a streak of purple inside.  
  
“Eh, this’ll do. C’mon, sit on the stool, head back against the sink. And don’t move.” Darion snapped on a pair of gloves and began to massage the liquid into Ben’s hair, making sure that it was covered.  
  
“Now sit here, don’t move your head or the dye’s gonna get everywhere.” Darion watched the clock. Once it ticked its way past five minutes, he turned the tap on, washing the spare dye down the drain. When he was certain that nothing would drip onto his floors, he held a card up, sending warm air rushing over Ben’s hair, drying it of water.  
  
Ben stood on Darion’s command, staring in the mirror. Darion’s face popped up behind him, ushering him into the main room. “Huh, that’ll do. Alright guys, let’s go. Ben, can you get us the limo?” Evie said briskly, all of them slipping into the hallways.  
  
“Yeah, I can. Follow me, the garage is this way.” Ben took the lead, heading to the garage where the limo stayed.  
  
They all piled in, Jay in front driving, with Darion in the passenger seat. Dude, Carlos’ dog, had joined them on the way down.  
  
“Dude! I told you to stay!” Carlos admonished, staring down at the terrier.  
  
“Oh just let him come. Just don’t let him get underfoot.” Daron groaned from in the car.  
  
Dude jumped into the back, and they were off. Back to the place Darion wished to never step foot in again.


	2. Getting out...with some complications

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Hey y'all im /alive/

Darion clicked the remote and the bridge shimmered into view. Taking a deep breath, Jay drove forwards, onto the smooth surface of the magical bridge.

The minute they reached far enough to park, Jay stopped the car, shutting down the engine. Working quickly, they threw a tarp over the car, sprinting for Mal’s little loft. Evie began a little dance number on the way there, using it to teach Ben about the Isle and Darion quickly slipped into the shadows, not willing to get into that little shebang. He crossed a couple of shadowed alleys, when he arrived at his ‘town hall’.

“Halen!” He hissed, the sound echoing in the space. A head of dark, wavy ringlets popped up from a side door, closely followed by a second lithe figure.

“Darion! You’re back!” Halen Gothel and his sister, Ginny exclaimed.

“Yeah, it’s temporary. How’s the Isle doing?” Darion grinned, finally seeing part of his gang again.

“Its running. Uma’s pirates have been helping out. Shockingly, there’s been no thefts from them.” Ginny reported with a smirk on her face.

“Yeah, I told Uma if we were missing anything I’d go after her. Seems to work well. Anyways, I can’t really stay long. Is the stash still enough?”

“Yeah, we’ll be fine Darion, don’t worry.” Halen nodded, shooing Darion out the door. Darion breathed a slight sigh of relief, everyone was still safe behind the enchantments.

He walked to Mal’s loft, letting himself in. All of the VKs were in a slight panic when he arrived. “What happened?” He questioned them, turning to watch them run around.

“Ben’s missing! Hook kidnapped him and now they’re asking for FG’s wand in return.” Mal stressed, pacing around the room.

“Who in Hades’ name is they, Mal.”

“Uma and her crew, of course. Who else.”

“Well, that’s easy. Carlos, Jay, you two have a 3D printer, right? Just print a copy of it.” Darion shrugged, leaning against a wall.

“That. That’s genius!” Jay pointed at him, jumping to his feet. “We’ll get right on that.”

“Meet us back here, you’ve got two hours.” Mal yelled after them.

Clearly, they were eager to get off the Isle before their parents could catch word of them being here. Not that Darion blamed them, of course. 

“Wait, but won’t Uma know its a fake?” Evie jumped in abruptly. Darion snorted, only if the pirate girl tried to cast a spell.

“Then we need a distraction. Smoke bombs?” Mal grinned, shaking her newly purple hair.“Yeah, we can make em from chemicals in Dizzy’s place.” Mal and Evie shot out the door, heading to the Cut and Curl Up.

Darion shook his head, curling into a couch. This was a complete disaster. Hopefully nobody who saw them was stupid enough to report his return to his mother. He pulled out his sketchbook, flipping to a new page, letting the scratch of pencil on paper sooth him. Slowly, the castle of Auradon Prep took shape beneath the graphite. The towering spires and expansive grounds bloomed with life.

Soon, dawn began to peek through the horizon and Darion unfolded his limbs from the couch, tucking the sketchbook into his satchel. He strode out the door, heading over to the docks where they’d planned to meet. The group was already there, facing off against Uma’s pirates on her ship. Ben was standing precariously on the plank, hands tied behind his back. The Rotten Core were on the gangplank, facing against the Wharf Rats. Uma and Mal were right up in each other’s faces, arguing about the transfer, the opal studded wand clutched in Mal’s hand.

Darion leaned against the wooden railing, observing the catfight below. He narrowed his eyes, spotting a black head of hair that was distinctly unfamiliar. His eyes widened in realization, it was Lonnie, daughter of Mulan. Oh boy he hoped to god Shan Yu and his children didn’t catch wind of this. God knows he still held a grudge against the old emperor.

Mal, in a temporary moment of genius, not that Darion would ever admit it to her, pretended to cast a spell on Dude, compelling him to ‘talk’. A tense moment passed, before the dog blurted out “Does this vest make me look fat?”

He almost burst out laughing, before forcefully restraining himself. No need to draw any attention to his position, after all.

Reluctance was oozing out of Uma’s every pore as she ordered Harry to begin Ben over. She pushed him into Mal’s arms before snatching the wand, holding it aloft. Mal shoved Ben back along the wooden decking while Uma attempted to bring down the barrier with the fake wand.

Oh, how cute, Uma thought Mal would hand over the actual wand. In a rage, Uma snapped the fake over her knee, before yelling for her little crew to attack.

Darion sighed, vaulting over the edge of the railing, landing with a thud next to Evie. Swiftly drawing a long hunting dagger from his belt, he stepped in between Ben and Harry to block Harry’s strike towards his neck.

“Fancy meeting you here,” Darion grinned, eyes bright, “Learn any new tricks?”

Harry snarled, “What happened to neutrality, hmm?” He brought his sword around in another attack that was forcefully blocked.

“You kidnapped the crown prince, what the hell did you think would happen? Beast and Belle would have all of our heads if a hair was harmed on his head!” Darion snarled at the sheer audacity. “There was no fucking way I was paying for all of your mistakes.”

“Mine! He’s the one who wandered into here, all innocent.” Hook spat out, stabbing towards Darion’s face with the metal hook in his right hand. Darion ducked under the arm before charging three steps forwards, shoving his shoulder against Harry’s stomach with enough force to slam him against the railings. The fragile wood gave away slightly against the sheer force of two bodies hitting it. Darion grabbed for the knife sheathed within his bracer, yanked it out with a whisper of steel on leather and stabbed it through Harry’s sleeve into the wood beneath.   
“Sorry, gotta go!” One flashed grin later, Darion leapt upwards, onto the same level that the rescue team had climbed up to.

“Jay, go start the car!” Darion grabbed the other boy by the shoulder. Jay nodded, scrambling for the pipe that led back to the car. Lonnie followed quickly on his heels, ducking into the low entrance.

But Uma was faster. With a snarl on her face, she leapt up and went straight for Mal, swinging with a vengeance. The rest of her crew followed, hot on her heels.

Darion swore under his breath before spinning under a blade, kicking a pirate’s legs out from under them. Goddamn force field and its goddamn magic-nullification properties. His world narrowed to the blade in his hands, and the multitude of enemies in front of him. But he knew, the longer they fought here, the higher the chance of discovery. Taking advantage of a lull, S Darion darted forwards, grabbing Ben by the shoulder. “Let’s go, now.” Ben ducked under Harry’s approaching blade, before taking off in Mal’s direction. Evie tossed a purple smoke bomb onto the decking, sending the dye everywhere. 

Without a backwards look, Darion ducked into the pipe. Behind him, Mal pushed the wooden bridge connecting the dock and the pipe into the water, barring any of Uma’s crew from following. They ran through the pipe, all pretense of stealth gone. If they didn’t make it back to Auradon before school started, Darion knew there was nothing stopping the royal family from issuing a search.

Jay dropped into the seat behind the wheel, pressing the acceleration down hard. Once they passed the barrier, he pressed the button and the shimmering golden bridge began to appear.   
Darion breathed a sigh of relief, slumping down into the seat. Oh thank fuck they’d gotten away with that adventure.


End file.
